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Tag Archives: Pasta sauce

But last weekend Alex and I went with the British bank holiday weekend tradition of barbecue, with the idea of making a gorgeous meal of smoky vegetables with pasta and nicely charred fruit for afters. However, the sauce we made to go with both was absolutely the star of the meal!

I’m growing nasturtiums this year, I love the flowers to look at but the fact that both flowers and leaves are edible (and delicious) makes it a properly multifunctional plant which appeals to me immensely.

The leaves are beautifully peppery, a little like rocket, and combined with basil and lemon make a lovely fresh sauce that goes equally well with sweet or savoury.

We dressed pasta with the sauce and then topped with barbecued mushrooms, green beans and asparagus for the savoury course. And then for afters we dipped lightly charred watermelon and nectarine in the peppery, herbal, lemony sauce. Both were delicious, and there’s something very pleasing about using the same sauce for the two courses!

basil and nasturtium sauce with barbecued watermelon and nectarine for dipping

Serves two for either the sweet or savoury version, double it to try both

30 g bunch of basil, leaves only

10 g nasturtium leaves (stalks are fine too)

2 tbsp good oil, we used cold pressed rapeseed

Juice and zest of 1 small lemon

a small pinch of salt

2 tbsp water

This sauce is so simple it really doesn’t need a method!

Simply whizz together all the ingredients in a mini processor or use the attachment from an immersion blender as we did. Done!